Pupil picks up iPad as winner of school poetry competition

Maria Azzi, a Year 6 pupil from St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Grays, has been named the winner of the Safer Essex Roads Partnership’s (SERP) school road safety poetry competition.

Maria’s poem, titled ‘I love to ride’, highlights a number of key safety messages for cyclists including taking extra caution when the ground is wet and remaining observant at times. It also highlights the importance of wearing a helmet.

Tempted to speed up, I’m homeward boundI see a splatter of raindrops hit the groundAnd I remember the road is wetGoing fast could be a threat.

So I slow down as I approach the bendMy bike judders, I feel myself ascendOn the floor I land with a crashWith my helmet securely on, I don’t feel a bash.

I smile to myself as I get off the floorMum always told me to make sureI wear my helmet when I rideAnd when I’m on the road, stay to the side.

Riding my bike is one of my favourite thingsBut road safety is very important, you don’t want to end up in slingsSo it’s cool to follow Edward’s Rule,And get yourself safely to school!

The competition was one of two organised by SERP as part of Project EDWARD 2017 – the other was open to all employees of Essex Highways, which comprises Essex County Council and Ringway Jacobs, as well as SERP members and partners.

The in-house competition was won by Eric Ovel, a maintenance technician at Essex County Council, and Jackie Roerig, a permitting officer at Ringway Jacobs, for their drink-drive related poem ‘I Wish’.

Project EDWARDProject EDWARD (European Day Without A Road Death) 2017 took place on 21 September and looked to encourage drivers, riders and pedestrians to spare an extra thought for their safety.

Conceived by TISPOL – the European Traffic Police Network – in 2016, the long-term aim is to use Project EDWARD to spearhead significant and sustained reduction in death and serious injury on roads across the world.